Savannah State senior point guard Preston Blackman says he hears the whispers around campus.

OK, maybe they aren’t whispers. The fact that 4,300 showed up for a Tigers’ exhibition basketball game speaks volumes about the anticipation of the basketball season here.

“From what I’m hearing, we’re the talk of the week,” Blackman said. “After (football) homecoming, (the fans) are ready for us.”

They don’t have to wait any longer. Savannah State, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular-season champion, will tip off the season at 8 tonight in Tiger Arena against Trinity Baptist.

SSU’s women open the doubleheader at 6 against Columbia College.

Elsewhere in the area, Georgia Southern’s women play host to Florida Atlantic at 8:30 p.m. at Hanner Fieldhouse. The GSU men are on the road at Valparaiso at 8:30.

And the Armstrong Atlantic State women host Eckerd at 6.

The AASU men won’t open their season until meeting Florida Memorial in the 2012 Valdosta State University Invitational on Nov. 16.

“There’s a lot of excitement, a lot of expectation for us,” SSU men’s basketball coach Horace Broadnax said. “But right now we’re nowhere near the team we were at the end of last season.”

The Tigers produced a dramatic four months in their first season in the MEAC. SSU won 14 of 16 conference games and won the regular-season title, which led to a NIT appearance at Tennessee.

The Tigers lost to the Volunteers 65-51 but showed heart by cutting an early 15-point deficit to one in the second half.

Now the same five starters return. And when Savannah State and Armstrong met in an exhibition game on Nov. 1, 4,350 jammed Tiger Arena.

“You get a lot of attention,” Blackman said. “It’s like, wow, you don’t think people look forward to it like that, but they really do.”

Excitement is building at Georgia Southern as well. The Eagles made an 11-game improvement in the Southern Conference standings and added the 2010-11 MEAC player of the year in guard C.J. Reed to the lineup.

GSU already has one of the league’s best big men in all-conference junior forward Eric Ferguson.

“There’s a positive energy in our program,” Eagles coach Charlton Young said. “We feel like we’re poised to take another step forward.”

Southern’s women start a new era with coach Chris Vozab, who took over for 16-year coach Rusty Cram.

Armstrong women’s coach Matt Schmidt and men’s coach Jeremy Luther reloaded their teams with transfers to watch. Bryonna Davis, from Michigan State, should be a big help to the women who struggled to score from the outside.

Former Richmond Hill star Tyler Carlson, a 12-point scorer at Mars Hill, also adds strength to the backcourt.

No matter how you look at it, 6-foot-9 Darius Morales, from East Carolina, will be a big addition to the Armstrong men’s frontcourt.

GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES

MEN

Head coach: Charlton Young

Record at GSU: 29-65 (fourth season)

Overall: same

Assistant coaches: Cliff Reed, Pershin Williams, Chris Capko

2011-12 record: 15-15, 12-6 Southern Conference

Starters returning/lost: 3/2

Season’s outlook: The Eagles made great strides last season going from one league win during the 2010-11 season to 12 a year ago. GSU is picked to finish third in the competitive Southern Division of the Southern Conference.

The Eagles return key parts from last season’s team and added a key ingredient — playmaking, offensive-minded point guard C.J. Reed, who averaged 18.8 points while earning All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference player of the year honors two years ago at Bethune-Cookman.

GSU will be looking for sophomore Anna Claire Knight to step up. Knight, who scored more than 3,000 points in high school at Trinity Christian, averaged 5.8 points and 3.0 rebounds last season.

SAVANNAH STATE TIGERS

MEN

Head coach: Horace Broadnax

Record at SSU: 86-123 (eighth season)

Overall: 157-243, 14th season

Assistant coaches: Jay Gibbons, Clyde Wormley

2011-12 record: 21-12, 14-2 MEAC

Starters returning/lost: 5/0

Season’s outlook: SSU returns all four starters from a team that won the MEAC regular-season title and advanced to the NIT. The Tigers hope to get their fifth starter, shooting guard Deric Rudolph, back at the semester break (mid-December). Rudolph is academically ineligible during the fall semester.

SSU complements the strong inside game of Rashad Hassan, Arnold Louis and Jyles Smith with an athletic and deep backcourt. Hassan led the team last season with 13.0 points a game. Louis averaged a team-leading 7.8 rebounds a game. Senior point guard Preston Blackman is a heady floor general, scoring 9.0 points and dishing out 5.0 assists a game.

Good depth allows the Tigers to keep defensive pressure on their opponents. SSU allowed only 59.1 points a game, 12th in Division I. Joshua Montgomery and Keierre Richards, both averaging more than 10 minutes of playing time a game, will redshirt this season.

WOMEN

Head coach: Cedric Baker

Record at SSU: 85-182 (10th season)

Overall: 277-285 (20 seasons)

Assistant coaches: Brenda Warren

2011-12 record: 10-20, 3-13 MEAC

Starters returning/lost: 3/2

Season’s outlook: The Tigers struggled in their first season of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play. SSU lacked an offensive punch outside of guard Ezinne Kalu, who averaged 17.6 points, but shot only 32 percent from the field.

Kalu may get some scoring help from senior forward Erin Hogue, a transfer from Alabama, and guard Andrietta Thomas, a transfer from Jefferson Community College in Missouri.

It won’t be easy for the Tigers, who will play South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Southern Mississippi and San Diego State along with the competitive league schedule.

ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC STATE PIRATES

MEN

Head coach: Jeremy Luther

Record at Armstrong: 36-44 (fourth season)

Overall: 69-68 (six seasons)

Assistant coaches: Evans Davis, Coleman Young

2011-12 record: 10-16, 6-12 Peach Belt Conference

Starters returning/lost: 1/4

Season’s outlook: The Pirates struggled last season and were picked to finish 12th among 14 teams in a preseason voting among league coaches.

But Luther is optimistic, looking forward to getting a fresh start with a roster filled with players he recruited.

Senior guard Aric Miller, a transfer from Bethune-Cookman, is Armstrong’s top returning scorer, averaging 13.6 points a game a year ago.

Junior forward Antroine Williford produced 8.7 points a game on 44 percent shooting from 3-point range.

The Pirates added six players, including 6-9 Darius Morales, who transferred from East Carolina. Kenny Bellinger II transferred from St. Petersburg College where he earned all-conference honors after averaging 12.5 points a game.

WOMEN

Head coach: Matt Schmidt

Record at Armstrong: 47-59 (fifth season)

Overall: same

Assistant coaches: Fallon Rehmert, Chris Gillett

2011-12 record: 13-13, 7-11 Peach Belt

Starters returning/lost: 4/1

Season’s outlook: The Pirates gained experience and added six newcomers to bolster a team that was .500 a year ago.

Junior forward Mauri Wells, a preseason all-conference selection, should lead the way after averaging 12.2 points and 13.0 rebounds last season.

Guard/forward Demisha Mills was second on the team in scoring with 11.0 points a game.